A man fled his flat after the stench of sewage was unleashed from his mould-infested bathroom walls.
For six months, Stephen Arkley, 26, was bounced between his landlord and the apartment building’s management company as he tried to fix the mould taking over his Liverpool flat.
Despite workers showing up unannounced to bleach the walls in September, the leaky pipe behind them went unaddressed, even after water leaking through the light fixture left Stephen showering in the dark.
That was until last Friday, when building maintenance again appeared while the civil servant worked from home.
When they removed the wall to access the pipe, it emitted a smell so bad, Stephen had to flee.
He told Metro: ‘It was bad before, it was definitely attracting flies, but when they knocked the wall in it actually made me almost throw up.
‘The smell that came out when, it was horrible. I couldn’t sleep there that night. The pipe was loose, so you can imagine all the contents of the building, sewage essentially, a horrible smell.’
By then black mould and damp patches had spread across the walls and ceiling, destroying any towels, clothes and toiletries Stephen had stored in the room.
A video shared with Metro shows water dripping from the ceiling light. ‘My whole bathroom would be flooded’, Stephen said, forcing him to place buckets on the floor.
Other images show mould and damp coming through the ceiling and walls around letterboxes in the apartment building’s entrance.
‘I’m lucky I don’t have asthma or something or it’d be 100 times worse, but it’s definitely taken a toll on my mental and physical health. I’ve had to take various bouts of sickness from work because of feeling inflammation in my chest.
‘Then just because the living situation has been so terrible, I’ve not been feeling great because of it.’
Stephen’s landlord – L1 Lettings, which operates several apartment buildings in Liverpool – has moved him into a different property, marketed for rent at roughly £50 less than his £705 flat.
He is still tied into his contract until January.
Stephen said: ‘I would like some sort of compensation for the six months that I’ve been in what I’d consider not really livable accommodation.
‘I’m kind of used to bad treatment from landlords, but this has been the worst it’s been. I’ve never really been in this situation before.’
A spokesperson for L1 Lettings said: ‘We want to reassure you that we have not overlooked the issues Stephen has experienced in the flat.
‘When signs of a mould were initially reported it was addressed and treated. However there was no apparent underlying cause at that time.
‘When the issue resurfaced, we attended the flat to replace the damaged light and from further investigations it became apparent that a leak was being caused by plumbing within the fabric of the building, an issue which the free holder, not us as the letting agent, is responsible for.
‘We have been working closely with the building management company which represents the freeholder, to resolve the issue.
‘However it has taken some time for them to assess the extent of the repairs required, obtain quotes and arrange the necessary works, as a large amount of pipework within the building needed replacement.
‘Unfortunately the damage being caused to Stephen’s flat by the leak accelerated rapidly in the month prior to the block management company carrying out the repair.
‘Our maintenance team is now working on repairing the damage to Stephen’s flat, and we hope to complete this within the next few days.
‘We do appreciate that Stephen has been inconvenienced living under these conditions for a period of time, until we could find an alternative flat for him to move to while works were completed.
‘Additionally, we are in discussions with the block management company and the landlord regarding how Stephen should be compensated for the issues he has experienced.’
Building management company Blockera said: ‘Blockera were informed of the condition of the apartment in mid-November. We immediately instructed investigations and then the replacement of the leaking pipework. The relocation of the tenant is the responsibility of the letting agent, L1 Lettings and not the Block management.’
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